Save India From Becoming A Liability-Free Nuclear Abyss: says PMANE, to the MPs by DiaNuke.org

People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)

Idinthakarai & P. O. 627 104

Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu

Phone: 98656 83735; 98421 54073

koodankulam@yahoo.com

pushparayan@gmail.com

Members of Parliament

Tamil Nadu and Kerala

New Delhi

Dear Sir/Madam:

Greetings! We write to bring your kind attention to the liability issue involved in the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government concluded a secretive Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with Russia in February 2008 and signed it in December that year. Article 13 of the IGA states: “The Indian Side and its authorised organisation at any time and at all stages of the construction and operation of the NPP power units to be constructed under the present Agreement shall be the Operator of power units of the NPP at the Kudankulam Site and be fully responsible for any damage both within and outside the territory of the Republic of India caused to any person and property as a result of a nuclear incident occurring at the NPP.” This simply means that the Russian government or their companies have no liability whatsoever for their technology and the equipment.

This allows the polluter to go scot free and runs quite contrary to the “polluter pays” principle enshrined in the Indian Constitution and all our environmental laws. Any blanket waiver to the foreign suppliers will make the Indian liability act a cruel joke. Russians claim that the Koodankulam reactors are the “best” and the “safest” in the world. If that is so, why should they shy away from offering any liability for their technology and components, but keep insisting that the Indian operator, NPCIL, is responsible for all damages?